Guild Wars 2

PvP, WvW or PvE?

You know you get infracted for reposting the same thread a mod closed, right?

And your perception that Mesmers are perfect screams L2P. Some people have solid, detailed arguments about what aspects of Mesmer need to be worked on / looked at from the perspective of not just one class and can present them in a way that opens for discussion. Give actual examples, rather than “active defenses need toning down.” Give comparable numbers rather than “too much stealth.”

You make an ambiguous nerf thread and then are surprised when people argue with you? Dude.. What’re you doing?

Fay.2357:

Fay.2357:

Gonna be testing out PvE support. I can maintain 30-35s of one solid permanent block of alacrity AND quickness on a party. Build is chrono/chaos/illusions, sword/shield + staff, heal well, calamity, quickness, alacrity, then time warp.

Tested this in CoE so far. Results are incredible.

When we engage, we have alacrity and quickness until the boss dies. Additionally, I spread ~12 stacks of partywide might, 50% uptime on vigor, and still do quite okish damage (for a mesmer). The warrior in my party was talking about how he hardly even used autoattacks, just continually rolled through weapon skill rotations.

Here is the video of the rotation you showed me in the mists.

Robert Gee please listen to this man.

Edit: Or woman.. Or strangely-computer-literate amoeba.

Fay.2357:

AlphatheWhite.9351:

What’s unfair about it?

You’re using advanced arguing techniques such as simple logic and the capability for rational thought. That’s a rather unfair advantage when having a discussion with someone like that.

xD God Pyro, its like.. I always wanna rebuke you, even when I agree.
But you’re like the Domination to my Inspiration. Better when working together.

But the guy was saying that a thief only has stealth and damage. A mes has stealth, damage, condition damage, survivability AND free Doritos.

If iDefender, iAvenger, iWarden, iDisenchanter and iMage could target allies, would you be more willing to take them?

I mean we must have the tech for that, right?

What if these phantasms could be cast with no target, so that they follow you around and activate their skills with you as the primary target? iMage would grant you fury, iAvenger alacrity, and most importantly iDisenchanter would become a reliable form of condition removal.

Why isn’t this a thing?

Morfedel.4165:

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Morfedel.4165:

I like bouncing attacks. I don’t think the bouncing is the problem, I think the problem is several of the bounces are simply lackluster at best.

I will be honest with you, I think the shield phantasm is just fine, but I do agree that the torch phantasm and disenchanter are both extremely weak.

The problem with bounces is that all of the bouncing attacks are two-fold. This means you have to rely on it hitting the opponent in order to have a chance at getting the benefit. So if I want alacrity from iAvenger I need to make sure:

• I’m not blinded on summon.
• Phantasm isn’t blinded when it casts
• The projectile isn’t blocked.
• The projectile isn’t dodged.
• The projectile isn’t absorbed.
• The projectile isn’t evaded/invulned.
• The projectile isn’t reflected.
• The projectile doesn’t get body-blocked.
• I’m in range to receive the bounce.

They’re just way too situational, and the odds get lower and lower as more people join the fight.

To my utter and complete shock, especially considering how that other thread was just going, I find myself agreeing with you on this. But I think they can be improved by just making them more powerful, to address those other issues. I would have to think about it.

I like Kool’aid though. =P

The one thing I think would really help bounce projectiles (besides reworking the entire bounce mechanic) is to make them unblockable, or have the projectile burst a little AoE on each bounce. OR Be able to target allies with these phantasms.

Morfedel.4165:

I like bouncing attacks. I don’t think the bouncing is the problem, I think the problem is several of the bounces are simply lackluster at best.

I will be honest with you, I think the shield phantasm is just fine, but I do agree that the torch phantasm and disenchanter are both extremely weak.

The problem with bounces is that all of the bouncing attacks are two-fold. This means you have to rely on it hitting the opponent in order to have a chance at getting the benefit. So if I want alacrity from iAvenger I need to make sure:

• I’m not blinded on summon.
• Phantasm isn’t blinded when it casts
• The projectile isn’t blocked.
• The projectile isn’t dodged.
• The projectile isn’t absorbed.
• The projectile isn’t evaded/invulned.
• The projectile isn’t reflected.
• The projectile doesn’t get body-blocked.
• I’m in range to receive the bounce.

They’re just way too situational, and the odds get lower and lower as more people join the fight.

I’m more of a PvP guy myself, but Lazy Kai has got you covered. Click here for his PvE leveling guide/builds

I disagree, with the exception of the torch I feel all our offhands are range from decent to great. Temporal curtain has learning curve, but its a fantastic skill. The “clunky” feeling is the 1s delay to give it some counterplay.

Magic bullet ranges from good to fantastic depending on build.

Sword does need just a slight bit of love, but riposte is still a decent/good skill.

Gonna need a bit more info than that. Sword/pistol Greatsword shatter?

For now, run with Dom/Dueling/ Inspiration OR Chaos

Power Block (or Mental Anguish), Shattered Concentration, Confounding Suggestions
Phant Fury or Duelists discipline, Blinding Dissipation, Deceptive Evasion
… anndd whatever you want.

Marauder Ammy. Energy sigils, some fire/air thrown in. Lug around a greatsword and you’re good to go.

Runes of Lyssa, Strength, Eagle, Hoelbrak, Air, Traveler (bleh) or Pack work fine.

Edit: Alternatively, you’ve got options for Lockdown, Boonshare (yaaa it’s kind of a thing now), and Condition.

After seeing some of the rather disgusting things Eles have to say in their forum (which is turning into a cesspit of overdramatic negativity) its great to see a thread like this.

People forget that people are people sometimes.

So… I’m kinda late to the party, but Bountiful Disillusionment is one of our best grandmasters period.

:D

So.. I could never bring myself to be too interested in core thief or play it very often, but the Daredevil elite spec has me wetting myself in anticipation.

I’ve never created a thief build before, so I don’t have the best idea of trait/skill synergies. I have this idea in mind for a daredevil spec focused almost entirely on what the elite offers, but what traits would I take for a build that:

* Will focus on interrupts

• Uses staff
• Will use at least 3 physical skills ((including the elite)
• Will use the leap-finisher dodge.

Any ideas on what traits/runes/sigils and alternate weapon I should be considering? I assumed shortbow/staff.

New thief spec is playable. =P

Uh.. The Mes thread was one guy mentioning that he still has trouble with thieves and asking advice on how to beat them.

But on topic; I love everything so far about daredevil, even the name.

Eheh… Time to dust off good ol’ Moa.

With a new beta on the way and only a few of us able to try it, I figured it couldn’t hurt to collect some builds and give them a (recorded) spin. Hoping some of the other OMFG testers can assist here.

(Note: Any Mesmer can submit a build to be tested, but OMFG members get first preference! Builds will be tested depending on the interests of the tester and in no particular order… Except for the first few, which I’ll make sure to try personally.)

Please use either intothemists.com or gw2skills.net to craft and link your build!

• Damage type (power/condition/hybrid)
• Playstyle (shatter/lockdown/support/phantasm)
• Intended role
• Things of note
• Gametype (PvE PvP WvW)
• Link

LIST

AlphatheWhite.9351:

Because I feel like doing a lot of silly math today (and I don’t want to waste the alacrity formulas I concocted in that other thread),

I’d like to point out that serially casting wells from all 5 skill slots can get your team up to a maximum of 42% alacrity uptime. That’s effectively 22.2% cooldown reduction for your team.
Note that doesn’t account for the specific Alacrity from Well of Recall, or any personal alacrity you may gain through shatters, or for the possible use of f5.
I’m still working on that math, I’ll post it when I solve those equations.

Don’t forget iMurica! And could you link me that spreadsheet?

Hey hey with the “cheesy!”

All the chrono grandmasters are good, and all have their place. Don’t kitten yourself because of the obvious applications of one, especially if it would be the biggest help to your build (I dunno if it would, but just sayin..).

Besides, whether or not a trait is “cheesy” depends on the build its used in. Chronophantasma could be the saving grace that phantasm builds needed. Alternatively it could push shatter over the top. Let the devs decide what “cheese” they wanna allow, no need to kitten yourself for the sake of what may or mat not be “honorable.”

Also, build seems interesting but what is its primary goal? What does it excel at?

Fay.2357:

Praise Geesus!

Chaos Archangel.5071:

Edit: oh yeah.. And people are rallying off our clones. Plz fix this yesterday.

They did fix it yesterday. /thread

Edit: Nothing gets past me!

xD I tried to delete that so fast that I missed the period.

Daniel Handler.4816:

This may seem like a weird use. But sw/sw+St with chaotic dampening gives you Perma protection. It’s not all bad.

That’s only IF you take a second ethereal field, but yeah. Sw/sw looooves staff (which is also more melee-oriented)

Rob rob rob!

Chaotic Dampening tho!!

C’mon man. 3% plz?
.

Alekt.5803:

Wolfric.9380:

I can´t beat a good condi mesmer.

That does not exist. The skill cap is the lowest we’ve seen amongst every builds in Gw2

Skill floor.*

Good condi Mesmer exist, and most don’t even need PU.

… O.o uh, where all the stickied threads are.

Uh.. Am I missing something? Was there a reveal / article or is this all speculation based on data-mined stuff? Cuz uh.. Eles got a sword datamined and I believe Wars found different/scrapped abilities.

Seems a bit early to be bashing and crying.

I meant monk as in .. Martial arts. =P Shaolin-esque

Source deez nuts

Yeah, on each classes (Necro, Guard, Ele, Revenant) forum there is a sticky for the changes

Players who have pre-purchased will be able to use their beta character slots to create our new profession, the revenant, using the full selection of core specializations, weapons (including underwater combat), and legends. You’ll also be able to play with our new elite specialization system that grows your character professions into new elite specializations. You’ll be able to try out the chronomancer, dragonhunter, reaper, and tempest, as well as the newly announced elite specializations: berserker, and herald, as well as the thief specialization we’ll announce later this week.

Taken from here

Quick! Someone teach me to Teef! Gonna be my second main if Daredevil really is a monk.

Robert Gee.9246:

Gravity well: Changed functionality. This well now pulls every pulse for a total of 3 pulls. The final pulse grants 5 stacks of stability to allies in the area.

• General sentiment from feedback was that the PULL was what was important to selling Gravity Well rather than the float. We’ve gone back to the earlier version where it does the standard 3 pulls but pulled out the ending stun to prevent kitten long AoE CC. I’m still a little concerned about how hard it is to stun break this thing but since it’s got a relatively long cast time and moderate area of effect I think it’s safe to try.

Echo of Memory: Fixed a bug which prevented this skill from working with the traits Illusionist’s Celerity and Persistence of Memory. Lowered slow applied by phantasm from 3s to 2s.

• The slow from these phantasms seemed a little too good considering they could hit multiple targets (especially if you got 2 of them out). With the fixes to traits that lower the recharge of this skill it seemed appropriate to reduce it a bit.

Well of Eternity: Lowered cast time from 0.75s to 0.25s

• The idea behind this skill has always been to wait for the big heal at the end, so it didn’t make sense for the cast time to be as long as it was. Healing numbers still might be adjusted in a future BWE.

Chronophantasma: Increased Daze duration from 1s to 1.5s

• Did anyone try spamming Illusionary Berserkers with Continuum Shift and Chronophantasma? This specific combo isn’t the only reason we are adjusting this trait, but we are watching the types of spikes that are coming from Chronomancer in general.

Illusionary Reversion: Updated functionality. You must shatter at least 2 illusions in order to generate a clone from this trait. (You do not count as an illusion towards this total.)

• Yeah I know this one probably stings but when we started looking at it it was pretty silly that this trait could let you get so much power out of just using all shatter skills back to back.

Alacrity
The last few changes are related to alacrity. We felt that as it was currently, alacrity wasn’t hitting the right level of impact due to how easy it was to get from the minor trait and how little you could share it with allies. These changes are intended to try and improve how alacrity feels to interact with though traits and skills.

• Flow of Time: Reduced alacrity per shattered illusion from 1s to 0.75s
• Improved Alacrity: Increased alacrity duration bonus from 33% to 50%.
• All’s Well that Ends Well: Changed functionality. This trait now grants 2s of alacrity to allies standing within the well when the well ends.

Slow Stacking
Finally let’s talk about Lost Time. Currently we don’t have plans to change this trait for the next BWE but it’s on our watchlist. This is trait is pretty fun and synergizes well with the other traits while working into the theme of chronomancer. However it can get a little blown out when used with certain skills (looking at you Spatial Surge). We’ll be keeping an eye on this one during the next beta event.

I hope this post has helped to explain our thoughts on the current state of Chronomancer and as a reminder these changes reflect our current thoughts and plans for the next BWE. We may add, subtract or change notes between now and then.

For this beta, I’ll be focusing on Alacrity sharing via wells and Clockdown in WvW. What’re yall looking forward to?

(OMG AND DAT THIEF SPECIALIZATION /hypetrainnn)

@Fay: Why longbow warrior? With mirror and the Inspiration traits I don’t see wars being a particular threat.

@Happi: You are welcome! So lets take a look at this build..

PROS

• Runes & Sigils seem legit.
• Trait choices are solid.
• Solid defenses via staff & Chaos/Inspiration line.
• Respectable damage.

CONS

• Low clone production.
• Lack of role.
• Few reliable damage sources

To me, what stands out is that you opted to not take the Dueling line despite having Restorative Illusions. Restorative heals you per-clone-shattered so you’re missin out on a bit of survival without it, as well as losing some needed damage via shatters. I think your condition removal is decent enough with just restorative and heals, maybe consider a generosity sigil if condis are still a problem but the general shatter mesmer rule of “don’t get hit” applies here even despite your defenses.

Ironically, this build seems like it’ll rely pretty heavily on shatters both for damage and defense. Diversion (F3) becomes super important to master here; it grants fury for your GS burst and mind wrack shatters, keeps you safe when ganked by stunning, and is a necessary form of damage/defense when it interrupts and applies weakness. Yet another reason you may wanna find a way to worm dueling in here (if I had to chose, I’d replace chaos. None of the traits in chaos are crucial to the build functioning.)

As for lack of role, it seems like a build that is decent at lots of things but master of none. The good thing is that makes you adaptable and able to handle different situations, but it also means you can’t be relied on for anything that anyone else could possibly do better. Everything in this build is average stat-wise, you’re like the Super Mario of mesmers. If you’re happy with that, then awesome, it can definitely work, but if you’re more serious about the build then figure out your plan for when you enter a match.

So.. Damage. We’ve got GS wombo-combo (gs2 + 3 + shatter) / interrupts / phantasms / mind wrack. With such low clone production, very few of that is reliable. You’re gonna have to be pretty skillful to make this build highly effective, but for low/mid tiers I think you’ll be fine.

Also… Decoy > Mirror Images almost all the time.

(If I get a chance, ill try to record a match using this build!)

I swear I keep trying to give constructive advice but… I just can’t get over…

“We all know most Mesmer abuse the macro in their gaming mouse to pull off the chain burst.”

.. What? Is this really what people tell themselves? Dude most people don’t even have a gaming mouse. The burst really doesn’t even come close to demanding one.

Alright.. So lets try this; Ima assume you’re referring to standard shatter because PU condition mesmer melt to decent eles.

* Carry a stunbreak. Once you avoid the initial greatsword burst you’ve got time to pressure the mesmer.

* Avoid melee. The closer the mesmer is the more damage they will do via shatters.

* Pressure. Use conditions and small bursts to keep the Mes on the defensive, most Mesmer aren’t very good and have lousy defenses. Even more have a hard time mixing offense with defense.

* Kill the greatsword phantasm as soon as possible. With aoe preferably.

* Let them waste their blink and dodges before going in for a burst. It only takes one or two decent bursts to down a mes.

After the next Chronomancer BWE, the Chrono version will be out (which’ll include Illusions so skcamow & embolism can stop giving me dirty looks)

Of all the ele abilities, Glyph of Elementals (and the other elites) just completely eludes me. What are the best ways to use each elemental?

Fire – Added damage.
Water – Ice field + Heal (Favorite)
Air – ?
Earth -?

PvP, WvW or PvE?

In either case.. You may wanna check out Mesmer or Ele.

Aretak.3826:

Not a fan of his ‘designs’. Chronomancer is Mesmer 2.0, Reaper is Necro 2.0 and now Berserker is Warrior 2.0. It’s more of the same, especially in the case of the Reaper as the core profession is so lacking. With the Berserker everything is in the wrong direction.

To really get use out of the spec you need to be running a condition build. Most of the primal bursts just got changed into a condition focus (burning on greatsword, really?) or made unnecessarily different like Combustive Shot or Earthshaker. The only utility worth using is the elite and maybe the heal as Warrior is a joke without the current meta utilities in PvP, and they don’t do anything for PvE where ‘selfish’ is just another word for useless.

This first round of Elite Specs has been disappointingly unimaginative so far. They don’t change how the professions play and struggle to contend with existing core specialisations. I can only hope the medium armour ones step it up.

I don’t play these classes, so I’m honestly asking…

- Do Warriors have a viable condi build?

- Do Necros have a viable melee power build? (Something beyond deathshroud 1 spam)

- Can Mesmer play a meaningful support role? (In PvP)

In the case of Mesmer (which I do play) the answer is: not really. The new elite does strengthen current builds (shatter/condi/lockdown) but it also offers the possibility of much stronger support as well as a type of lockdown for PvE.

Another question or two.. What game has an expansion that doesn’t boost the classes?

What do Eles gain from Tempest?

Edit: Careful.. this coincidentally similar thread got locked.

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

Fay.2357:

-snip-

The only thing I gathered from that long winded rant was that you’re feeling offended over something you apparently think is misinformed. Maybe you’re doubtful about the accusation and there’s a part of you that’s agreeing with me. Now you’re just taking your frustrations out on me.

Or maybe you’re just uptight and don’t know when to step away from the computer. Either way, thanks for the info, chief. It was about as informative as a trip to the shoe isle at Wal-Mart.

Iniquity.. Fays trademark sass aside, he just gave you the most accurate, informative and legitimate counterargument in this entire thread.

And I thought “Chronophantasma” was cool, obviously someone on the dev team is a fighting game fan!

• Primal Rage – Primal Rage (throwback!)
• Fatal Frenzy – Fatal Fury
• Smash Brawler – Super Smash Brothers Brawl
• Dead or Alive – Dead or Alive
• Bloody Roar – Bloody Roar
• King of Fires – King of Fighters

Also.. If I’m not mistaken, “Always Angry” is a reference to the Hulk in the first Avengers movie? “Wanna know my secret? How I control it? I’m always angry.”

Any I missed?

—-

* Eternal Champion – Eternal Champions (Throwback)

• Savage Instinct – Killer Instinct
• Last Blaze – Last Blade
• Heat The Soul – Bleach: Heat the Soul

• Rifle Skill: Gun Flame – Guilty Gear: Sol Badguy – Gun Flame

Staff ele is my secondary, the difference in defense is night & day. (and I run marauder on both). Mes is an immortal god compared to staff ele.

I didn’t mention aegis mostly because there’s no way to guarantee it procs, you just kind of stealth and hope for the best.

I’m assuming you mean ether feast (the most popular mes heal) the heal is potent but depends on how many clones you have at the time. It’s effectiveness is build-dependant.

Edit: Like Curunen said, the PU playstyle will be getting a nerf once the bugged torch is fixed.

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

Alekt.5803:

To OP’s defense, I also noticed that mesmers have a ton of defense mechanisms. If you notice carefully in your matches or duel arenas, the number of Condition Mesmers is getting very high. It seems like those type of mesmer are able to beat pretty much anything.

Mainly, I am looking at their constant access to Aegis, Invisibility. Then once you’re done with it, any CC you do is reflected back from Mirror of Anguish, then if you happen to go through that, it is met with an invulnerability frame; following that, another stealth and reset the Aegis step. In between all that, you are threatened to be met with the Confusion beam (that deals a ton of base damage + a ton of confusion), and if there is no aegis, chances are that they are preparing to block with Scepter 2. Also, I forgot about Ineptitude’s blind, Blinding Dissipation etc… And on top of that, they have some on-demand Condition clear for the very few hits they will take.

I think OP has a point guys.

I almost feel like you’re being sarcastic for some reason but if not, good to see I’m not the only one who realizes this…

Like I said in the OP I’m not asking for the profession to be gutted or something but the amount of ways a Mesmer has to prevent/eliminate damage is too much. Yes, Guard has about the same amount as a Mesmer but a Guard also can’t stealth when said defenses are on cooldown.

Valid point about preventing capture point contribution however. Still, it’s something I’ve seen more than a few times. None of these Mesmers were “Signet builds” they just had Signet Of Inspiration, Vampirism runes, Blurred Inscriptions and Blinding Dissipation with sword. They might not have been able to insta-burst me 100 – 0 like a full shatter but they definitely didn’t hit like a wet noodle either…

I just think if you have as much access to kiting potential, stealth and reflects as a Mesmer does that should mean you don’t get access to an obscene amount of blocks and invulnerability as well.

That’s not fair.

Not every build gets every Mesmer defense, and I can’t think of a build that can be effective while grabbing everything you mentioned. Vamp runes are for everyone, and if they were running blurred inscriptions with only one signet then that’s… Not likely a very good build.

Alekt.5803:

To OP’s defense, I also noticed that mesmers have a ton of defense mechanisms. If you notice carefully in your matches or duel arenas, the number of Condition Mesmers is getting very high. It seems like those type of mesmer are able to beat pretty much anything.

Mainly, I am looking at their constant access to Aegis, Invisibility. Then once you’re done with it, any CC you do is reflected back from Mirror of Anguish, then if you happen to go through that, it is met with an invulnerability frame; following that, another stealth and reset the Aegis step. In between all that, you are threatened to be met with the Confusion beam (that deals a ton of base damage + a ton of confusion), and if there is no aegis, chances are that they are preparing to block with Scepter 2. Also, I forgot about Ineptitude’s blind, Blinding Dissipation etc… And on top of that, they have some on-demand Condition clear for the very few hits they will take.

I think OP has a point guys.

Well lets break that scenario down…

- First stealth: Prestige (6 potential boons, 6 seconds [BUGGED])
- Mirror of Anguish (Reflects 1 CC every 60s)
- Invuln: Distortion (45s CD)
- Second stealth: Decoy ( 6 potential boons, 6 seconds stealth)
-Scepter block
- Blind on shatter
- Blind on dodge
- Phase Retreat
- Blink.

… Yeah I can’t honestly say I dont see your point, but the thing to remember here is that PU condi is primarily a dueling build, it is suited to tank multiple opponents (at the cost of losing a point) and the majority of its damage is single-target.

It’s quite possibly one of the best dueling builds in the game, but you rarely see it in tournaments for a reason.

Iniquity, I love ye so I’d never flame ye but…

You’re talking about something theoretical and extremely impractical. Yes there are some Mesmers who run some nice signet builds (I myself have ran one) but there are multiple problems with such a build, I’ll highlight the main one: distortion cannot cap a point.

A Mesmer with a build like that in PvP can’t cap, and that severely gimps the usefulness of such a build since it wont outdo shatter/lockdown/mantra in just about anything. Sure, its possible but its possible in the same way a super glass warrior can run around one-shotting with 100 blades.

On average you’ll find Mesmer with a 2s blur on 12s CD and a1-4 second distortion on kitten CD. Everything else is teleports and dodges.

/walks into thread.

So, I think tha-

/sees pyro’s post.

/walks out and shuts the door.

Best bet is to find a thief and duel him, we’ve got a something of an alliance going with [Teef] so you could always feel free to hit up someone from there and make a request for some duels, plenty of helpful players there willing to spend time with ya.

So Much Fun.

New Build Possibilities.

F5 Is Hard.

I need some warrior friends.

Two zerkers and a Chronomancer. Alacrity.. Time Warp.. Slow.. Kick Kick Kick Kick

/cackle

I can’t believe you just dumped on pvp Staff ele like that. =[

Offhand sword is currently the least viable offhand outside of PvE boss fights. It received some love with the specialization patch, and is definitely better than it was before but I feel it’s still extremely hard to justify taking it over other options.

It’s not that the weapon skills are bad. They’re really not, its that the weapon does not offer anything that another offhand can’t offer.

• Phantasm is strong, but only single-target and doesn’t live as long as iDuelist.
• Daze is good, but cast time takes too long to be exactly reliable and is not useful for … anything beyond proccing interrupt traits.
• Counter leaves you wide open during animation, making it more often a liability than not.

SUGGESTIONS

Illusionary Reposte – The damage aspec of this skill is great, but isn’t much of a payoff when you’re so kitten vulnerable to getting hit. I’d suggest either add a .5 second evade inbetween the block and counter or make the counterattack a small (Mantra of Pain-sized) AoE centered on the triggering target.

Sword is currently the only offhand who’s non-phantasm skill is rather lackluster. It pales in comparison to Temporal Curtain, Magic Bullet, Prestige, and Tides of Time.

(While we’re at it, can we change the placeholder animation for when the Mesmer counters to look like something that isn’t a phantasm summon?)

Counter Blade – Increase projectile size/ Add damage to projectile / Reduce Cooldown / Increase Cast Speed / Rework.

Right now the second part of the skill just doesn’t work right. The projectile is a flimsy little Winds of Chaos bolt that goes largely ignored, even if it does hit. I’d suggest making the projectile slightly more impactful, atleast enough to make the opponent actually care about dodging it.

• Counter Blade reduces it’s own cooldown by 10s when you interrupt with it.

I’d really love this, would make the sword/sword style more fast paced, skill-based, and competitive against other offhands.

• Counter Blade projectile increased in both size and velocity. Increased casting speed.

While less interesting, this attack is supposed to be a piercing projectile, but it is currently too small and slow to make a difference.

• Counter Blade inflicts damage/cripple/weakness/taunt OR steals a boon/transfers a condi on hit.

I don’t mean inflicts ALL those condis, but one of the above would be a nice addition. Stealing a boon or transfering off a condition would also make the weapon more of a tempting choice.

• Counter Blade teleports you to your target / Counter Blade inflicts 2s daze and teleports your target to you.

Sword is a weapon that features good mobility, why not expand on this?

• Counter Blade inflicts “Hex of Frustration” for 3 seconds, skills opponents use while hexed time inflict 2x confusion on them.

Hex-based mechanics will probably be a new Elite spec, but still.. would love!

• Counter Blade inflicts 2s daze and 2s cripple

Simple and easy, though less effective than the other options.. the anet way?

• Counter Blade creates 1 sword clone on hit, 2 sword clones on interrupt

Anet plz!

Whatever the case, something needs to be done. Offhand sword struggles to stay relevant versus so many strong options. Even the torch, largely taken for only one skill, sees far more play than sword.

Yashuoa.9527:

Thanks.

You mention how Mesmers use all sorts of weapons for different content but I read on metabattle that they have one pve spec.
http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Mesmer_-_S/S_/F_/P

This does not even use 2 weapons in the second weapon set (only one).

What do you mean with all weapons for different content in this context?

Anyone else feel free to share your views on the thread as well
Especially on describing how Mesmer plays in pve. What do you do in there?
(I think I have a descent picture about how it is in pvp).

The Metabattle build presented is specifically made for optimal speedrun team setups and to have the most “meta” dungeon Mesmer possible. As far as open world content and some dungeons (including soloing, which condition builds excel in) you’ll find uses for all your weapons. Hopefully I can summon a frifox or fay to further elaborate.

/summoningRitual

Dear guy-who-played-support-rev-in-that-one-pvp-match,

Revenant never looked all that interesting to me, despite being the newest thing on the block. None of the legends had really grabbed me and the only Rev weapon that caught my attention was staff. In PvP I’ve yet to face a Rev that I didn’t roll right over without even know what the hell they were trying to do (Granted, I am a lockdown Mesmer.).

Then you came along.

I didn’t notice at first, but I found myself outnumbered in a 2v1. Though I was handling the fight decently, I was constantly forced to teleport off-point and was rapidly losing ground. (This was Mid @Temple of the Silent Storm ) The 2v1 then turned into a 3v1, and right when I thought I was finished, right when my health was at 4%, my life jumped up. The 3v1 turned into a 3v2, but I didn’t notice you, I just kept fighting for my life. This strange tablet-thing (that I thought was a pet at first) kept stalking me, and you would never leave my side.

My life never dropped beyond 30% after that, and when it did you always boosted me back.

So I don’t know how you did it, but Healing Revenant & Lockdown Chronomancer fought off a 3v2 gloriously. You made me interested in Revenant and showed me that healing support can actually be a thing which is amazing, since its my favorite form of gameplay and I had assumed impossible to achieve. You followed me around after that, I assume you were using me as a test subject (appropriate, since you were an asura) and I learned quickly to fight alongside your tablet.

We never were defeated the rest of the match. You rock, Ventari Rev.

- Love & Respect, Chaos

Ohoni.6057:

“its not about you, even though you spent $50-$100 on a product and when you (and the rest of the elementalist community) determined you got a disfigured, horrific version of that product you paid for, you got mad, but you shouldnt be because its not about you or your money or your experience – its about Anet shoving whatever piece of disfigured confusion down your throat, whether you like it or not.”

The product you paid for hasn’t come out yet. As of this minute, they owe you absolutely nothing. They could exclude the Tempest from all beta weekends and you would still be getting 100% of everything you paid for.

Now, when HoT launches, that’s what you paid for, and if the Tempest is awful, then you have every right to be upset about that. For the time being though, if you’re disappointed in the current state of the class because you’re concerned about where it will end up, giving constructive feedback is perfectly appropriate, but complaining about the current state because it’s the current state is entirely worthless.

I personally really like the overload concept. Everything else? … Not so much. But I think you’re misunderstanding the outrage over the changes OP.

If you look at the other class forums at least for Necro and Mesmer, you can clearly see that changes were made as a direct result of player feedback. Not only were the changes (and even the nerfs on Chronomancer) intelligent and interesting, but they clearly demonstrated that a dev is reading our input, values it, and attempted to work with us.

Tempest changes, on the other hand, show a lack of understanding (or denial) of why the Tempest was so lackluster, with few edits that actually address what players were complaining about.

So while other players get to actively participate in the development in their elite specs, Eles get a note that says “lol deal with it. beta not about you.”